


A gift for a kiss

by mseg_21



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Fluff, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Reddie, Reddie Fluff, Reddie one shot, Swearing, They are 14-15 in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 18:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14026098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mseg_21/pseuds/mseg_21
Summary: Richie realizes that whenever he gives Eddie a gift, he gets a kiss in return so of course Richie gets Eddie as much small details as he can. It takes a while for Eddie to discover Richie’s intentions and just how okay he is with it.





	A gift for a kiss

The first time it happened, Richie hadn’t planned it.

He had been on his way to the quarry to meet his friends, when he stopped by the store. Richie had extra money from mowing his neighbor’s lawn so he bought a Cherry Slurpee and two packs of gummy worms.

When he arrived at the quarry, late as usual, most of his friends were already on the water playing chicken fights and splashing around. He spotted Eddie sitting on the grass, throwing rocks into the water and watching his friends.

“Look who finally decided to show up!” Mike yelled when he saw Richie. His words made Eddie turn around to see Richie approach.

His friends waved at him from the water and Richie waved back, but he didn’t go join them right away. Instead he walked towards Eddie and sat down next to him.

“Hey Eddie Spaghetti” Richie said, knocking their shoulders together. “Why aren’t you in the water with the others?”

“First of all, don’t call me that” Eddie said, annoyed, but he still returned the shoulder bump. “Second of all, my mom is convinced I had a fever last night and the only way I could convince her to let me come here was if I promised to stay out of the water.”

Richie grimaced, “That sucks. I’m sorry, Eds” he said sympathetically.

Eddie shrugged, “It’s not your fault.”

“Oh but it is. If I had paid her a visit last night she would have been in a much better mood today” Richie said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Beep beep Richie” Eddie said, shaking his head, but he couldn’t hide the way the corner of his mouth twitched in an almost smile. Then, changing the subject, he asked, “What took you so long?”

“I was hungry, so I stopped to buy these on my way here” Richie said, opening the pack of candy and putting a handful of gummy worms in his mouth, all at once.

“You were hungry and you bought gummy worms?” Eddie asked, skeptically.

“Hey, gummy worms are fucking awesome okay, Eds?” Richie said.

“Sure, but they’re not real food.”

“Oh, so I guess I should give these to someone else then. Since you hate gummy worms so much.” Richie held up the unopened pack in front of Eddie, a smug smile on his face.

Eddie’s eyes widened and he reached for it, but Richie was faster and just held it out of Eddie’s reach by extending his arm over his head.

His friend glared at him as he sat with his arms crossed over his chest. Richie laughed and handed Eddie the pack any way.

“See if next time you whine about my fucking food choices.”

Eddie didn’t answer, he only smiled at Richie before opening the bag and popping a single gummy worm into his mouth.

Richie was looking at his other friends when out of the corner of his eye he saw Eddie move, maybe to stand up, Richie thought, but then he felt Eddie’s lips pressing a quick kiss to his cheek.

He was surprised to say the least, usually he was the one kissing Eddie’s cheek, not the other way around. Richie could feel himself starting to blush and he was glad it was a sunny day, so he could blame the redness of his cheeks on the sun and not the fact that Eddie had just kissed him.

He turned to look at the other boy, who was smiling sweetly at him.

“Thanks, Rich.” He said and went back to eating his gummy worms as if nothing had happened.

Richie was still staring at Eddie, not knowing what to say, when Stan shouted at him, “Hey, Trashmouth, you coming to the water or what?”

Without taking his eyes off of Eddie, adorable Eddie, who was looking into the small bag with a focused expression on his face trying to find a red gummy worm, his favorites, Eddie who couldn’t go into the water with his friends because of his overbearing mother, Eddie who had made Richie so flustered just by kissing his cheek in the most innocent way, without taking his eyes off of him, Richie answered Stan’s question.

“You know what, Stan the man? I think I’d rather stay out here today.”

* * *

 

The next time it happened, Richie told himself that he hadn’t done it on purpose.

He and Eddie had made plans to hang out at Eddie’s house after his mom left for church. When Richie arrived, Mrs. Kaspbrak was still home, so he hid behind the bushes until he saw her get in her car and leave.

Her car hadn’t even rounded the corner when Richie was already at the front door, ringing the bell of Eddie’s house.

“Just a minute!” Richie heard his friend yell. Less than a minute later Eddie was opening the door and looking at Richie with his eyebrows raised.

“That was fast. Were you hiding in the bushes waiting for my mom to leave or something?” Eddie asked, jokingly.

“What? No, of course not. No.” Richie replied, scratching the back of his neck anxiously.

Eddie narrowed his eyes at Richie’s strange behavior but didn’t comment on it. He moved to the side so that Richie could enter the house.

Together they climbed up the stairs to Eddie’s room. Once inside, Eddie started gathering up a bunch of comics that had been lying on his bed.

“I was reading some old comics before you showed up but we don’t have to do that. We can watch a movie or play cards or something” Eddie said.

“Actually” Richie took off his backpack and started looking for something in it while he spoke, “I was at the comic store the other day, when I saw they had the new issue of ‘The Spectacular Spiderman’ and I bought it.”

Eddie stared in confusion at the comic book Richie was holding in his hand. “But you hate Spiderman” Eddie said.

Richie snorted, “I don’t _hate_ Spiderman, I just don’t think he is as great as, say Iron Man or Hulk.” He could see Eddie get ready to have the same argument they had had a hundredth times already, so he continued, “None of that matters though, I didn’t buy the comic for me, I bought it for you, Eds.”

Richie handed him the comic book and Eddie grabbed it while staring at him, surprised.

“Why?”

Richie had asked himself that same question when his first thought after seeing the comic book was to buy it for Eddie. He had come up with the answer, but he quickly shoved it to the back of his mind. He still wasn’t ready to deal with those feelings yet.

Eddie’s question brought those thoughts back to his mind as well as a blush to his face.

Richie shrugged and avoided Eddie’s eyes as he said, “What? Can’t I just get my best friend something because I think he might like it? Jeez, Eds.”

“No, no of course you can. I just… you know what, never mind. Thank you, Richie.” Eddie said.

Richie told himself that he wasn’t disappointed when Eddie just smiled at him and sat down on his bed to look through the comic book, but there was only so many lies he could tell himself.

He sat down next to him and started to play with a loose thread on Eddie’s comforter. He figured that his friend would start reading the comic book right away, but then Eddie put it aside and turned around to face Richie, who frowned at him.

“You’re not gonna read it?”

“Later when I’m bored, right now I have you to keep me entertained.”

Richie smirked at him, “Oh I know a thing or two we could entertain ourselves with.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Beep beep, dickhead. Let’s watch a movie. Bill lend me his copy of Ghostbusters the other day and I haven’t had a chance to watch it.”

“Sounds good to me. You get the movie and I get the popcorn?”

Eddie nodded and Richie went to the kitchen to make some popcorn while Eddie set everything up in the living room.

Since Eddie’s task was faster he joined Richie in the kitchen shortly after. He didn’t say anything, just stared at Richie in a way that made his skin prickle.

When it became too much, he said, “I know I’m fucking irresistible, Eds, but quit the staring.”

“You wish” Eddie said, but he averted his eyes. “I just… I wanted to say thank you for the comic book.”

“You already did.”

Eddie shrugged, “I know but… I…”

Richie turned, they were face to face now and Eddie was looking at him as if deciding something on his head.

Then he closed the distance between the two of them and stood on his tiptoes long enough to place a kiss on Richie’s cheek, “Thank you.”

Richie’s eyes widened but before he had to decide what to do or what to say, the microwave beeped, signaling that the popcorn was ready. Richie just stood there, staring at Eddie and feeling his cheeks starting to heat up.

“Uh, Rich. The popcorn is ready.”

“What?” Richie said, dazed. Then the microwave beeped again and he remembered why he had been in the kitchen in the first place, “Right. The popcorn. Got it.”

Then he turned his back to Eddie, face burning by now and trying to hide the stupid smile that appeared on his face.

Ok, maybe this had been his plan all along, sue him. He was just glad it had worked.

* * *

 

The third time it happened, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing but that didn’t mean Richie wasn’t aiming for the same result.

The losers were all going to Bill’s house for a sleepover and since Eddie’s house was between Richie’s and Bill’s, Richie picked Eddie up so they could walk together the rest of the way.

They stopped when Eddie noticed one of Richie’s shoelaces was untied. He told him to tie it up because he didn’t want to end up in the ER for a broken nose when Richie fell on his face after stepping on it.

While he was doing as Eddie said, Richie noticed they had stopped in front of a house with a front lawn covered in different flowers. Right next to where Richie was kneeling there was a patch of daises. On impulse, Richie picked a few and handed them to Eddie.

“Richie! What the hell?” Eddie exclaimed, looking around, worried that someone had seen Richie defile the perfectly cared-for lawn.

“If I had a garden, I’d put our two lips together” Richie said, shoving the flowers on his friend’s face. Eddie only stared at him, his face blank. “Get it? Our two lips? Tulips?”

“Those are daisies, Richie” Eddie said, flatly.

Richie rolled his eyes, “Just take the damn flowers, Eds.”

Eddie snorted, but he grabbed the flowers anyways. He smelled them and smiled. Then he looked up at him and just like Richie had hoped, he kissed his cheek.

Richie’s blush was just starting to make an appearance when they both heard someone shout, “What do you vandals think you’re doing?!”

They jumped in surprise and turned around to find a woman glaring at them from the front porch of the house. She had a broom in her hands and she was brandishing it at them in anger.

“Shit” Richie said under his breath “Run!”

Richie grabbed Eddie’s hand and they started to run, the woman’s shouts following them for another block or so. They stopped when they reached Bill’s house and by then both of them were gasping for breath, hands on their knees.

One look at each other and they both burst out laughing.

Still giggling, Eddie said, “I know I should be flattered, but next time you want to steal flowers for me… Don’t.”

Richie chuckled, “Duly fucking noted.”

The truth was that if it got him a kiss from Eddie and the chance to see him laugh so hard his eyes were shining with unshed tears, Richie was willing to steal an entire garden of flowers for him.

* * *

 

By the fourth and fifth time it happened, Richie had to admit to himself the reasons why he kept getting Eddie small gifts. It went beyond having Eddie thank him with a kiss on his cheek. The truth was that it was all an excuse to get Eddie to look at him full of gratitude and affection. In those moments when he would smile at Richie, stand on his tiptoes to kiss him and thank him sincerely, Richie could pretend he wasn’t alone in his feelings.

It was silly, he knew that, not to mention tortuous, but if this was as much as he could get without acting on his feelings and possibly ruining their friendship, then he would take it.

* * *

 

It had taken a while for Eddie to notice Richie’s new habit, he had been focusing on how good it felt to know that he was on Richie’s mind enough for him to get him gifts every once in a while.

The first time, when Richie had given him the gummy worms while they were at the quarry, he hadn’t given much thought to the fact that he had kissed his best friend’s cheek as a way of saying thank you, Richie did it all the time, after all. After that, it just became natural, if Richie got him something, he would kiss his cheek, easy as that, nothing weird about it. Richie never said or did anything to imply that he was against it so, why stop?

It hadn’t even crossed Eddie’s mind that far from disliking them, Richie was actually after those kisses. Mostly because, why would he? Eddie was the one with a crush on his best friend, not the other way around.

It wasn’t until the sixth time it happened that Eddie realized Richie’s true motives.

The two of them had been walking home from school together, as they usually did. Eddie had to pick up some medicine for his mom at the pharmacy so he told Richie to wait outside while he got it.

When he walked out, Richie was nowhere to be found. Eddie thought it was weird, Richie wouldn’t just leave him behind without at least saying anything. Thoughts of Henry Bowers and Patrick Hockstetter dragging Richie to an alley to hurt him while he waited for Eddie, alone started to fill his mind and he looked around frantically. Before his panic could set in though, he spotted Richie walking out of the ice cream parlor across the street, an ice cream cone in each hand.

Eddie sighed in relief and tried to calm down, he didn’t want Richie to see he had almost freaked after losing sight of him for just a second.

Once Richie crossed the street, he handed Eddie one of the ice cream cones.

Eddie was still a bit shaken up after his almost panic attack, so he just murmured a weak “thank you”, while accepting the ice cream. He didn’t notice that he forgot to kiss Richie’s cheek, but what he did notice was how Richie leaned the tiniest bit down, turning his head slightly as if to make it easier for Eddie to kiss him. That, in itself, wasn’t weird, just like it had become normal for Eddie to kiss Richie’s cheek it had become normal for Richie to expect those kisses.

What did catch Eddie’s attention though was Richie’s disappointment when he didn’t receive the kiss he had clearly been expecting. Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie saw Richie frown and pout, then he must have realized his emotions were showing so clearly on his face because his eyes widened, he blushed furiously and he straightened up so fast that his back must have complained.

After that, they resumed their walk and neither of them spoke much. Eddie’s mind kept going back to Richie’s reaction. He had wanted Eddie to kiss him, that much was clear and he had been embarrassed to show it. By definition, Eddie was more of a pessimist rather than an optimist, but just this once he let himself hope that maybe Richie’s intentions behind the gift giving weren’t as platonic as Eddie had convinced himself they were in the past.

Maybe, just maybe, Richie felt the same way about Eddie. Maybe, just maybe he wanted Eddie to kiss him on the lips instead of on the cheek just as much as Eddie himself wanted to do it.

* * *

 

The last time it happened, Eddie was aware of what was going on and he intended to do something about it.

Mrs. Kaspbrak had been in a really bad mood lately, so when Eddie announced that their Science teacher was taking them on a field trip to a museum in Bangor and asked his mom to sign the permit so he could go, she had refused.

Eddie had tried to convince her for an entire week. He had been a model son. He would clean the house without being told to, cook dinner for his mom when she was too tired to do so, he even attended church with her on Sunday, putting on a sweet smile whenever one of her mother’s friends would pinch his cheek and call him handsome. But nothing he did had been enough to change her mind.

So here he was, home alone on a Wednesday while his friends were together on a trip, definitely having more fun than him.

It was around five when he heard something hit his window, he had been falling asleep so he thought he might have imagined it and decided to ignore it. But less than a second later, he heard it again. He peeked through the curtains and he almost fell on his ass in surprise when he saw Richie’s face staring at him from the other side of the window.

The idiot was holding on to the window railing with one hand and to the tree he must have used to climb there with the other one. He had a manic grin on his face and Eddie could only stare at him in disbelief.

Since he couldn’t let go of either the tree or the window rail unless he wanted to fall to the ground, he used his head to knock on Eddie’s closed window, asking him to open it.

Eddie did and then took a step back to watch Richie climb through the window with the grace of a baby giraffe. He hit the floor with a groan and Eddie saw he was still carrying his backpack, he must have gone to his house directly from school where the bus that took them to the museum had dropped them off.

Richie rolled on his back and smiled brightly at Eddie, who glared in return.

“Exactly what do you think you’re doing, Richie?”

His friend smiled innocently, still from his spot on the floor, “Visiting my Eddie Spaghetti, whom I missed dearly today.”

“And you couldn’t use the front door because…”

“I saw Mrs. K’s car. I didn’t want to risk her not letting me inside to see you.”

Eddie pinched the bridge of his nose, “So you decided to climb the huge fucking tree outside my fucking window instead?” Richie just shrugged. “You could have hurt yourself, you idiot, a fall from that height can be really dangerous.”

“As adorable as your concern about my well-being is, you have to give me some fucking credit Eds. I made it.” Richie said, finally deciding to stand up.

Eddie sighed. “You are insane,” he said, but Richie could tell he was fighting off a smile.

“I had to see you, Eds.”

“We were going to see each other tomorrow anyways. Less than twelve hours from now. Why was it so important for you to see me today?” Eddie said, exasperated.

Richie grinned, “I had to give you this.” From his backpack, he pulled out a small box and handed it to Eddie. “I got it for you, it’s a puzzle, since I know you like them. It’s not that big, only 250 pieces but it was the only one I could afford. The image is this fucking awesome dinosaur skeleton. I, uh, it’s kind of silly now that I think about it but hopefully you’ll like it.” Richie said, nervousness taking over him the more he talked.

Eddie, who had been examining the box, looked up at his friend and smiled, “It’s not silly. You’re right, the picture is awesome. I love it. But… why would you get me this?” Eddie asked confused.

Richie scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed, “I felt bad that you couldn’t go with us, so I thought maybe if I brought you something from the museum it would make you feel better about missing the trip.”

Eddie’s expression softened at Richie’s thoughtfulness. He placed the box on his bed and took a step closer to him.

“That’s actually really sweet of you, Rich. Thank you.”

He was about to kiss Richie’s cheek, out of habit, when he froze. This seemed as good a time as any to confront Richie on his gift giving.

The two of them were really close now, Richie was looking at Eddie expectantly.

“Rich?” Eddie whispered and Richie hummed in response. “Have you been getting me gifts so that I would kiss you in return?” He asked, without raising his voice.

If Eddie hadn’t been a nervous wreck himself, he would have laughed at the way Richie’s eyes widened and his lips parted in a gasp. Eddie could see he was struggling to come up with words and a small part of him felt proud of being able to shut up his mouthy friend.

“Uh… Eddie… I can explain… I…. I’m sorry… I didn’t….” Richie kept running his hands through his hair, nervously.

The way Richie reacted was the only reassurance Eddie needed to convince himself that they were both in the same place when it came to the way they felt about each other. The realization gave him the courage to speak.

“Because… if you were… if what you wanted was a kiss, all you had to do was ask.”

The moment Eddie’s words registered, Richie gaped at him.

“I… uh… What?” Richie asked dumbly, but there was a hopeful expression on his face.

Feeling more confident, Eddie looked at Richie straight in the eye and said, “Ask me, Rich.”

He didn’t seem to have found his words yet and Eddie had a split-second panic attack when he thought that Richie’s silence meant that he had misinterpreted the whole thing.

But then, Richie took a deep breath and said, “Eds… Kiss me?” His voice was uncertain, but it wasn’t because he didn’t want it, the truth was in his eyes, they were looking at Eddie as if he might disappear. No, the uncertainty was due to the fact that he didn’t believe this moment was real.

Eddie stepped forward, took a final look at Richie’s face to make sure he wanted this as much as Eddie did and then he clasped his hand around Richie’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Richie’s hands found their way to his waist and Eddie’s other hand gripped the lapel of Richie’s ugly Hawaiian shirt.

The kiss ended quickly, with Eddie dropping back on his heels, effectively separating his mouth from Richie’s, their hands, however, stayed where they were.

Eddie felt his stomach flutter at the way Richie was smiling down at him.

“See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Eddie murmured and Richie let out a loud laugh at that.

“If only I had known it would be that easy to get a kiss from you.”

Eddie frowned and lightly hit Richie’s chest, “Hey, I’m not easy.”

Richie grinned at him and said, “No, Eds, you’re perfect” before kissing him again.

The second time they pulled apart, Eddie spoke first again.

“Don’t think this means you can just kiss me whenever you want, Rich. I expect gifts every once in a while.” Eddie said with a smirk.

“Anything for you” Richie said with a laugh, wrapping him in a hug, which Eddie returned gladly. And while they held each other, Richie was already trying to come up with new gift ideas to give to Eddie in exchange for a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment or come talk to me on tumblr @jem-carstairs-is-perfection I’m lonelyyyyyy, so please ♥


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